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Non-Tech : MER MERRILL LYNCH & CO. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lucretius who wrote (226)	2/26/2000 1:22:00 AM
From: puborectalis	Respond to of 266

Merrill Lynch profits double Merrill's belated move online proved crucial America's largest broker has halted its slide against its discount rivals and posted profits twice those of the previous year. The upbeat performance was fuelled by its move online, the rapid growth in share dealing and the surging numbers of global mergers. Merrill Lynch, which has 14,200 U.S. brokers, earned a net profit of $764m in the last three months of 1999. That compared with a $359m profit in the same three months in 1998. The results beat expectations by a third. They support its decision last summer to belatedly embrace online share dealing. Merrill tops Schwab Assets in its accounts which combine free web trading with investment advice for a minimum annual fee of $1,500 rose to $63bn. Merrill introduced these Unlimited Advantage accounts last summer to compete with online broker Charles Schwab, which has been winning the greater share of new business in recent years. The new accounts attracted $6bn in new money in the fourth quarter, said Merrill whose shares rose as much as 8% in Tuesday trading in New York. Merrill's chief executive, David Komansky said: "Investors embraced our new choice platform combining technology with advice and guidance, and brought new assets to the firm at an accelerating rate." Widespread gains Merrill's US customers put a record $36bn of new money into their brokerage accounts in the fourth quarter, bringing the firm's total client assets to $1.7 trillion. Significantly, the new money beat the $33bn of new money Charles Schwab attracted in the quarter. "This is something (Merrill) hasn't done in aeons," said analyst Steve Galbraith of the Sanford Bernstein investment bank. Merrill's Wall Street rivals, such as Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co. and PaineWebber have also reported record results for the year as the popularity of share trading has grown. Search BBC News Online Advanced search options BBC ONE TV NEWS WORLD NEWS SUMMARY See also: 29 Dec 99 \| Business Online record for Schwab 01 Jun 99 \| Your Money Merrill Lynch moves online 21 Jan 00 \| Business Share dealing nightmare 22 Jan 00 \| Business Share dealers warn of web rumours Internet links: Merrill Lynch Charles Schwab The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Links to other Business stories are at the foot of the page.